According to Commissioner Roger Goodell, the plan to add a wildcard team to each conference is under "serious consideration" by the NFL and owners. Goodell has continued to push for expanding the playoff format, and while it's not a foregone conclusion, with recent comments by owners such as Jerry Jones in favor of such a measure, it seems likely expanded playoffs will be adopted by the NFL. If the measure were to pass, the earliest we would see a 14 team format would be 2015, according to Goodell.

Fantasy Analysis:

Don't expect a decision before this year's Super Bowl. Any addition to the playoff structure would require a vote of the NFL owners and they won't meet again until March. But with the increased revenue expected from additional games, it's hard to imagine the owners not adopting this format.

According to SI.com's Chris Burke, "such a change would lead to three games per conference on wild-card weekend, presumably with the No. 1 overall seeds receiving byes. From there, No. 2 would host No. 7, No. 3 would host No. 6, and No. 4 would host No. 5; the divisional round then would pare down to four teams per conference, as it does now."

It's certainly not unprecedented to have a large playoff pool in American sports. Both the NHL and NBA already have playoff structures that include over 50 percent of the total league teams (16 of 30 in both leagues). So, even with the addition of two teams (from 12 to 14 of 32), the NFL will not be the easiest playoffs to reach.

Tony Casale is happy to be joining FFToolbox.com as a contributor starting late in the 2013 season. Tony has been involved with fantasy football for over a decade and has been writing and recording podcasts as a fantasy football expert for the past three years. Winner of numerous high profile fantasy leagues, he also competes and is involved with fantasy baseball.

When not adjusting his line-up, Tony is a professional actor and screenwriter, spending most of his time in Chicago after spending the last 7 years in Los Angeles. Go Bears, Go Bulls, Go Hawks and White Sox...but never, ever the Cubs.